November 2022 AO004 Colégio Angolano de Talatona

9239\02 0002 Delma Carolina Xavier Vieira

To what extent prison systems effectively reforms convicted criminal

November 2022 AO004 Colégio Angolano de Talatona
9239\02 0002 Delma Carolina Xavier Vieira
November 2022 AO004 Colégio Angolano de Talatona
9239\02 0002 Delma Carolina Xavier Vieira
November 2022 AO004 Colégio Angolano de Talatona
9239\02 0002 Delma Carolina Xavier Vieira

To what extent do prison systems effectively reform convicted

criminals?

There are approximately 10 million people incarcerated in prisons

worldwide. The encyclopedia of Britannica defines prison as “an
institution for the confinement of persons who have been remanded
(held) in custody by a judicial authority or who have been deprived of
their liberty following conviction for a crime”., according to the United
Nations Population Fund report The State of World Population,
2002, there were about 6.2 billion people in the world in 2002, this
means that the world prison population rate is approximately 140 per
100,000 citizens.
Of the prisoners,44% of them end up returning to prison before their
first year out.
Prison’s main goal is to house, deterrer and rehabilitate their
countries’ criminals to help reintegrate them into society. The
problem that is brought to question is if a country's different system
of imprisonment impacts how a prisoner reforms back into society.
The biggest difference between worldwide prisons is the type of
punishment that inmates receive. Some countries like Norway and
Singapore do not punish their prisoners in the same way as the
United States. Norway is more focused on using various forms of
rehabilitation to successfully re-enter society. While the U.S mainly
uses a cage-style punishment-focused form of treatment to reform
its prisoners. Their different style of imprisonment has led to a major
difference in countries recidivism rates. The U.S has an incredibly
high number of incarcerated individuals, with around 2.2 million
prisoners.
The various styles of imprisonment have led to the debate between
whether prison systems help rectify prisoners and how effective it is
for society. Throughout the course of this essay, I will analyze these
November 2022 AO004 Colégio Angolano de Talatona
9239\02 0002 Delma Carolina Xavier Vieira

two distinct perspectives on this issue, to conclude “To what extent

prison systems effectively reform convicted criminals?”
First, let us consider two very distinct perspectives that prisons
contribute to effectively reform prisoners. Most successful cases on
prisoner release after incarceration happen due to the prisons
offering extensive rehabilitation programs. These programs treat
prisoners as regular members of a society showing them steps on
how to improve themselves.
The time spent in prison can deter offenders from future crme or
rehabilitate offenders by providing vocational training on wellness
programs.
Countries like Norway are a prime example of harboring
programs like these. In Norway, they have one of the lowest
recidivism rates in the world at approximately 20%. A source that
furthers this perspective is the article “Why Norway's Prison System
is so successful” by Christina Sterbenz, editor at Business Insider
with a dual degree in journalism and public affairs. Which explains
the benefits of Norwegian prison systems on criminals.
One must consider the credibility of this article, which is valid
due to her extensive journalistic background and experience writing
numerous articles on this subject. This perspective explores the
various strategies that Norway takes that help to improve its
recidivism rate.
 
Sterbenz’s article has both strengths and weaknesses. The
main argument made in the article is that people will end up
improving themselves and refrain from a life of crime if they were
treated ethically. She clearly explained her perspective on how
Norway's strategy on prisons the most effective way to reform
prisoners is. In her article, she says “Few citizens there go to prison,
and those who do usually go only once. So how does Norway
accomplish this feat? The country relies on a concept called
November 2022 AO004 Colégio Angolano de Talatona
9239\02 0002 Delma Carolina Xavier Vieira

"restorative justice," which aims to repair the harm caused by crime

rather than punish people. This system focuses on rehabilitating
prisoners. Look at Halden Prison, and you'll see what we mean. The
75-acre facility maintains as much "normalcy" as possible. That
means no bars on the windows”. Through this method of
imprisonment allows for inmates to learn the steps it takes for them
to improve in the future. This prepares them so that they can reenter
society.
To further elaborate on this point, in Singapore they have
established a program to help with prisoner reintegration. In
Singapore, the “Singapore Prison Service” (SPS) community sought
out a way to use their community to rehabilitate and improve
offenders and ex-offenders. They formulated the idea of creating
stronger bonds between prisoners and their families. This
connection between prisoners and their families allowed for them to
have more incentive to change themselves. They saw that family
support can play a pivotal role in helping inmates reform. The SPS
created programs to help improve their inmate’s social skills and
family connections. Such as the Family reintegration program and
the social skills training program. They also know that reemployment
after incarceration is a critical factor when it comes to a prisoner's
successful reintegration into society. They established programs
after the release of prisoners. In this program, ex-offenders get help
finding jobs and help improve job match-making. This program
allows for ex-convicts to find jobs easier. Systems like these in both
Norway and Singapore have allowed them to have one of the lowest
recidivism rates in the world.
On the contrary, a weakness in the article is that Starbenz had
not taken into account the economic factor in these open prison
systems. For instance according to the British Broadcasting
Corporation, at a place like Halden’s prisons, it costs approximately
98,000 pounds per resident to live in the facility; that equates to
November 2022 AO004 Colégio Angolano de Talatona
9239\02 0002 Delma Carolina Xavier Vieira

about $135,875 per year.1 This is a detrimental factor when it comes

to programs like these. That is because the country uses its own
finances to run these facilities which can put them in a financial
deficit. Each of these prison-like facilities can prove to be difficult to
consistently take care of. These types of jailing solutions only have
been successful in a few countries. Although this downside can be
countered due to the potential for convicted inmates to end up
reforming and becoming productive members of society. It is
important to consider the feasibility of these prison systems from a
worldwide perspective.

1
November 2022 AO004 Colégio Angolano de Talatona
9239\02 0002 Delma Carolina Xavier Vieira